
UPDATED: April 17, 6 p.m.
PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The Delaware man charged with stealing the thumb of a terra cotta warrior on exhibit at the Franklin Institute in 2017 has pleaded guilty to a lesser charge.
Michael Rohana, of Bear, Delaware, admitted to the federal judge that he broke off the thumb of the statue, which was on loan from China.
Court documents filed last month show federal prosecutors dropped the most serious charges of theft and concealment of an object of cultural heritage from a museum. Rohana could have faced up to 30 years in prison on those counts.
Rohana instead pleaded guilty to a single interstate trafficking charge, which calls for a maximum two-year prison term and a $20,000 fine.
During his first trial in 2019, Rohana told jurors he made a stupid, drunken mistake during an “ugly sweater” Christmas party at the Franklin Institute. The trial ended in a hung jury, and a mistrial was declared. A retrial was scheduled but was disrupted by COVID-19.
Chinese officials had demanded Rohana face “severe punishment” after he admitted to breaking off the left thumb of a 2,000-year-old statue — valued at $4.5 million — and stashing it in a drawer at home.
Philadelphia City Council passed a resolution in 2018 apologizing to China for the damage and noting the city’s “embarrassment.”
Rohana will be sentenced in August.